Homeless man talks openly about being addicted to heroin. We have an opioid crisis in America.

Invisible People · 10.7M views · 2011-06-19 · 6:15

Open on YouTube ↗

If playback is restricted in your region, try opening the original video. Use Mark watched to add it to your marked videos.

Overview

A short street interview from Invisible People with Keith, a homeless man in Los Angeles who lost his housing-industry job in the crash and moved from painkillers to heroin because it was cheaper. He talks candidly about the grip of addiction.

On Hacker News

HN commenters point to it in threads on homelessness and drug policy as a short, honest firsthand account from an articulate addict.

Recommended by 3 HN people across 3 months · HN mentions 2021–2021

Topics

Social issues & culture Mental health & neurodiversity

What people said

blackandsqueaky · 2021-10 · Strong recommendation
Extremely powerful 5 minute interview with an obviously intelligent homeless person addicted to heroin: [VIDEO] Terrifying
Read the original HN comment ↗

Grieving · 2021-04 · Strong recommendation
Can't read with the paywall, and this is probably contrary to the message of the article, but this interview ( [VIDEO] ) with a homeless heroin adict made a great impression on me. He comes off as both extremely self-aware and honest.
Read the original HN comment ↗

nate_meurer · 2021-07 · Recommendation
> doing drugs to forget your life has been a mess for a long time is not a lifestyle choice decision. That's a bold statement. Choice and compulsion occupy the same place in hell. Youtube is actually a fantastic resource for the average Joe (like me) who wants to hear how it is straight from the source: [VIDEO]
Read the original HN comment ↗

Sources

Video by Invisible People, played through YouTube.

HN Library · Source license

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

Views, duration and playback status refresh separately from the published catalog. When an update fails, existing data remains visible.

Selection checks

SaaS & AI candidates: Topic keywords do not match
Editor-approved picks: Editorial review is required

Rule matches identify candidates. They do not guarantee video quality or financial results.

About the library and its sources